Under the Mistletoe
by Spicy Diamond
Summary: One Shot, Holiday Themed, Loki / Mayura, It wasn't that Loki disliked Christmas per say. The holiday was a harmless bit of fluff when it came down to it. The trappings it came dressed in however, were another matter entirely.


**Title**: Under the Mistletoe  
**Challenge**: Prompt Bingo on LJ : Winter Challenge  
**Prompt**: Party  
**Summary**: [One Shot, Loki / Mayura] It wasn't that Loki disliked Christmas per say. The holiday was a harmless bit of fluff when it came down to it. The trappings it came dressed in however, were another matter entirely.  
******Rating**: PG**  
Author's Notes**: Harry Potter references! Plus, abused the mythology a bit here, but MLR has a tendency to warp mythology anyway so...

. o . o . o . o . o . o .

_Once upon a time, long ago, Baldur, son of Odin and Frigg, was plagued by dreams of his own terrible demise. Fearful of her son's Fate, Frigg left upon a quest to beech an oath from all the World that none would bring harm to Baldur. And so it came to pass that all things gave a vow to never cause ill to one so beloved._

_All things, that is, save for a small, overlooked, young sprig of mistletoe..._

. o . o . o .

"Mayura..." Setting the small bundle of mistletoe back down among the pile of Christmas decorations littering his desk, Loki gave a small sigh before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. Shaking his head in exasperation even as his lips curled in a small smile he gave the girl a look. "Are _all_ of these decorations yours?"

"Most of the- _Eee_!" Mayura gave a startled squeak as one of her towers of boxes cluttering the room tilted dangerously to the side and hurried to prop it back up. "Most of them. But, Reiya donated a few boxes as well."

Slipping away from his desk, Loki moved to give her a hand with the boxes. Holding them in place until Mayura had managed to disassemble the stack, he watched curiously over the girl's shoulder while she unpacked.

"We don't have that much to decorate," he reminded her. "It's only a going to be a small party."

"But it's for _Christmas_!" She said excitedly. Holding up a shockingly purple garland, Mayura bounced happily in place, treating Loki to one of her most dazzling grins. "There's no such thing as too many decorations!"

"So I see." The god glanced briefly at the boxes engulfing his office. Leaning down to pluck a tiki figure out of Mayura's growing stack of vaguely Christmas themed odds and ends, he smothered a snort of laughter.

"Besides!" She added eagerly. "We still have to decorate in here too!"

That wiped the grin from his face,

"Wait, why are we decorating my office!" He complained, knowing that he sounded childish and, for once, not caring in the slightest. "We're not going to be using it for the party."

"We're decorating it for the clients, of course." She told him, sounding surprisingly well reasoned for once. "It will make it more welcoming!"

_So it would. Drat._

Finding no fault in her logic, he grumbled faintly.

"So you don't have to worry about a thing, Loki-kun! It'll look really good when we're done!" Apparently misinterpreting his frown, Mayura sprang up. The purple garland still trailing after her as she moved to reassure him. "I already picked out some of the best stuff for the office!"

She indicated the pile on his desk with a grin.

"Ah." His frown deepened. "Great."

"Loki-kun, do you..." Tilting her head curiously, Mayura's voice lowered in disappointment. "Do you really not want to decorate?"

"Oh no, it's not that." Cursing himself for being distracted, he quickly plastered on a smile. Gesturing at the decorations he gave her an encouraging nod. "They're a good idea. I'm sure it will turn out interesting."

With 'Interesting' being the key word. Loki eyed the tiki still in his hand briefly before setting it aside on the coffee table with a small, amused quirk of his lips.

"But..." Mayura looked less than convinced.

"Really," Loki insisted. Then, to make it one better, he fidgeted in place. Giving her his best winsome stare as he explained softly. "It's just, I'm a little short so I might not be able to help to reach..."

As expected, she took to the excuse readily.

"Ooh. That's okay. It won't be a problem, you can still help, Loki-kun." Skirting boxes, Mayura moved to give Loki a quick hug and pat him on the shoulder. Smiling brightly, she winked, adding in a conspiratorial whisper of support. "And you're not short at all, you just still have growing to do. I'm sure when you grow up you'll be even taller than me!"

"You think so?" _He was. By a good head or so, in fact._ Loki hid a grin.

"Definitely!" She nodded vigorously. "So just pick out which decorations you like and leave the high stuff to me for now!"

Actually, it would probably be best to leave the high stuff to Yamino. Loki had seen Mayura's skill on the small stepladder the office boasted before. He didn't relish the thought of a repeat performance.

Watching her sort through the pile of decorations on his desk with glee, he gave a fond sigh. Allowing himself a small moment of amusement at her behavior before he returned back to the matter at hand. A frown crossed his features.

Gaze narrowing irritably at the mistletoe, Loki's hand crept stealthily forward.

_If he could just throw it away..._

"Ahhh, not that, Loki-kun." Catching his hand before he touched the mistletoe, Mayura gave him a rare serious look. "I haven't checked it for nargles yet."

The god blinked. Twice.

"Nargles?"

"Exactly." She nodded firmly, eying the sprig of mistletoe with suspicion. "You can't see them, but they like to live under the leaves. If we don't get rid of them, they might steal things out of the office. Nargles do that, you know."

Brows arching wryly, Loki opened his mouth to deny the existence of any such thing. Only to stop, mouth closing as he watched Mayura fuss.

"I _did_ bring something to make sure they went away though." Already rummaging through yet another box, she continued speaking absentmindedly. Tinsel in various colors strewn around her like confetti. "Supposedly, they don't like corks. I just have to find where I put them... But, once I'm done, you can hang the mistletoe for good luck with our cases!"

Unlike before, _this_ was pure Mayura tinted logic. And, despite his best efforts, Loki found himself snickering. Old, best left forgotten memories of the plant set aside in the face of his amusement.

"Loki-kun?" She looked up, confused at his laughter.

"Ah, no, it's nothing." Waving aside her concern, he bit down a fresh set of chuckles to smile broadly at her. His eyes twinkled. "I was just thinking that we could probably skip the corks. I doubt nargles are native to Japan anyway."

"Really? They aren't." Her eyes widened in surprise, lips pursed thoughtful as she considered his words. "Oh, I think you're right! Wow, Loki-kun you do really know everything!"

"Well... most everything, at least." He rolled his shoulders in a casual shrug, preening slightly.

"So, we can just stick it up now?"

"We can; but, that's the other thing..." Taking a step forward, he picked up the small bundle of mistletoe. Feeling distinctly lighter as he looked down at the seemingly innocuous leaves, the god glanced back at Mayura. "People don't normally use mistletoe for good luck."

"What?" She gasped. "But... I read it in a book and-"

Cutting her off with a quick tug to the sleeve, Loki pulled the girl down closer to him. Lifting the mistletoe strategically up over their heads, he leaned forward to close the gap between them with a slow grin.

"They usually use it more like _this_."**  
**


End file.
